Getting inventive about getting around
Just last week one of my best friends from college came for a visit. We make it a point to try to get together at her home in Colorado, mine in Florida or in Virginia at least once a year. One of the first things we do is make a list of all the things we want to do during the visit, all the restaurants that have become favorites.
This year at the top of her agenda was spending a day at the Sony Ericcson tennis tournament, something we hadn't done for several years at least in part because my gimpy knee makes getting around the tennis complex, up and down stairs and even from the parking lot a real nuisance. However, as someone who once loved to play tennis and even played competitively on a neighborhood team -- yes, me! -- I really wanted to go. So, I got inventive.
I called the ticket office and asked about a zillion questions of a poor, clueless guy who kept trying to seat me in the upper deck, but handily near an elevator. I finally gave up, went on the site map and figured out which row was at the top of the section I wanted, meaning no stairs to climb once I was inside the stadium. Two seats in that section also netted me a parking pass right across the street from the stadium. And, as a bonus, a pass to a special hospitality suite. When I was unable to make the reservation online, I went back to poor, clueless guy and gave him the information about exactly which seats I wanted.
It turned out to be one of the best things I've done in years. The walk from the parking lot was a breeze. My knee even cooperated for a walk around the gorgeous grounds and allowed me to hike up one set of stairs to my seating level. By then I'd spotted an elevator and made the next trip up in that. In between we saw a men's doubles match won by the tournament's eventual finalists, a match by the tournament's eventual winner, Serena Williams, and part of a match by the eventual men's winner, Nikoly Davedenko. The only thing I screwed up was not realizing that if I'd had the exact same row on the opposite side of the stadium we would have been in the shade, rather than the scorching heat. Next year!
This isn't the first time I've made phone calls to determine the best seats for an event. I know exactly which row is best for me at the Florida Marlins spring training site in Jupiter. I've figured out which seats work best in which theaters in New York and which theaters are within walking distance for me from my hotel.
I'm bringing all this up because it made me wonder how many of us stop doing things we love when we conclude that it's inconvenient or physically difficult. I know I've done that more often than I should. Going to the tennis match reminded me yet again that there are ways to keep up with the things we enjoy. They sometimes require a little ingenuity, but they are possible.
So, don't put aside your passions when you think they're beyond you. Maybe it's true, but maybe it's not. Maybe it's just a matter of looking at the seating plan, making a phone call, asking the right questions. I hope I always remember this lesson, because my life will be richer for it. So will yours.
If you have a topic you'd like to discuss here, among friends, be sure to drop me a note at sherryl703@gmail.com. If you'd like to write a guest blog about something on your mind, drop me a note about that as well.
Sherryl Woods
This year at the top of her agenda was spending a day at the Sony Ericcson tennis tournament, something we hadn't done for several years at least in part because my gimpy knee makes getting around the tennis complex, up and down stairs and even from the parking lot a real nuisance. However, as someone who once loved to play tennis and even played competitively on a neighborhood team -- yes, me! -- I really wanted to go. So, I got inventive.
I called the ticket office and asked about a zillion questions of a poor, clueless guy who kept trying to seat me in the upper deck, but handily near an elevator. I finally gave up, went on the site map and figured out which row was at the top of the section I wanted, meaning no stairs to climb once I was inside the stadium. Two seats in that section also netted me a parking pass right across the street from the stadium. And, as a bonus, a pass to a special hospitality suite. When I was unable to make the reservation online, I went back to poor, clueless guy and gave him the information about exactly which seats I wanted.
It turned out to be one of the best things I've done in years. The walk from the parking lot was a breeze. My knee even cooperated for a walk around the gorgeous grounds and allowed me to hike up one set of stairs to my seating level. By then I'd spotted an elevator and made the next trip up in that. In between we saw a men's doubles match won by the tournament's eventual finalists, a match by the tournament's eventual winner, Serena Williams, and part of a match by the eventual men's winner, Nikoly Davedenko. The only thing I screwed up was not realizing that if I'd had the exact same row on the opposite side of the stadium we would have been in the shade, rather than the scorching heat. Next year!
This isn't the first time I've made phone calls to determine the best seats for an event. I know exactly which row is best for me at the Florida Marlins spring training site in Jupiter. I've figured out which seats work best in which theaters in New York and which theaters are within walking distance for me from my hotel.
I'm bringing all this up because it made me wonder how many of us stop doing things we love when we conclude that it's inconvenient or physically difficult. I know I've done that more often than I should. Going to the tennis match reminded me yet again that there are ways to keep up with the things we enjoy. They sometimes require a little ingenuity, but they are possible.
So, don't put aside your passions when you think they're beyond you. Maybe it's true, but maybe it's not. Maybe it's just a matter of looking at the seating plan, making a phone call, asking the right questions. I hope I always remember this lesson, because my life will be richer for it. So will yours.
If you have a topic you'd like to discuss here, among friends, be sure to drop me a note at sherryl703@gmail.com. If you'd like to write a guest blog about something on your mind, drop me a note about that as well.
Sherryl Woods
posted by Just Between Friends at
11:17 AM
2 Comments:
Dear Sherryl;
I so understand what you are saying about limiting ourselves. While mine isn't a pain issue (I'm so sorry to hear about your knee, that sounds terribly painful) mine is all about weight. Since the birth of my three kids, the pounds have refused to come off. No matter that I use my dreaded treadmill and watch what I eat, I just can't shed them. Truth be told, I find myself avoiding certain public outings. Even family events. I feel as if a whole part of my life is passing me by and I'm letting it because I'm uncomfortable with how I look. The running joke I have with girlfriends is that I'm praying for a broken jaw so I'd lose the weight. But knowing me, I'd live on chocolate shakes and GAIN weight. Good for you for making the effort to attend the tennis match. I know that couldn't have been easy for you.
Kim, I totally identify with your avoidance of events because of weight. I was a fat kid, who always liked being first to anyplace so I didn't have to walk into a room already full of people. I suspect that's why I'm always the first person to arrive at a party or meeting even now. But you know what I've learned? Friends and family don't care how you look. They love you for who you are and what you mean to them. As someone once reminded me, paraphrasing a famous quote,"You'd worry less about what people are thinking about you, if you realized how seldom they did." In other words, we get way too caught up in worrying about other people's opinions, when the truth is they're not the problem, we are. All that worrying about how we look, what we weigh because of what someone else might think is totally wasted. All we're doing is cheating ourselves out of the moments that make up a lifetime of memories. As for gaining weight with your jaw wired shut, I used to swear I could gain a pound of water weight just by going out on a humid day! Get out there and really live.
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